Pinchas Cohen Named Dean of USC Davis School of Gerontology

Pinchas Cohen, a preeminent researcher and leader in the field of gerontology, has been named dean of the USC Davis School of Gerontology, effective Aug. 1.

Cohen also was named holder of the William and Sylvia Kugel Dean’s Chair in Gerontology and will act as executive director of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center.

Provost and senior vice president for academic affairs Elizabeth Garrett announced the appointment of Cohen, noting his extensive experience as a leader in gerontological research and education. The announcement of the appointment was made on behalf of USC president C. L. Max Nikias.

Formerly vice chair for research at the UCLA School of Medicine, Cohen has overseen numerous teaching, training and research activities at UCLA and has been involved in programs related to diseases of aging, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and metabolic disorders.

Previously, he served as chief and professor of endocrinology at Mattel Children’s Hospital and associate director of the UCSD-UCLA Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center.

Focusing his research on the emerging field of mitochondrial biology, Cohen and his team have worked to demonstrate the importance of mitochondrial peptides in aging and longevity. He is co-founder of CohBar, a biotechnology company developing mitochondrial peptides for the treatment of diabetes.

Cohen has received several awards for his work in the field of aging, including a National Institute of Aging EUREKA Award, the National Institutes of Health Director’s Transformative Research Award and the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging.

He serves on the boards of several professional journals and societies, including the American Federation for Aging Research and the Growth Hormone Research Society.

A prolific author, Cohen has published more than 250 papers in top scientific journals and his work has been cited in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

Cohen earned his M.D. degree with highest honors from the Technion School of Medicine in Israel, and was a resident and fellow at Stanford University, after which he spent seven years at the University of Pennsylvania.

In making the announcement, Garrett thanked Gerald C. Davison for his service as dean of USC Davis since 2007.

Davison, who joined USC in 1979, also has served as interim dean of the USC School of Architecture and interim dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, as well as chair of the Department of Psychology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

After completing his term as dean, Davison will return to USC Dornsife to focus on research and teaching.